Eyeleting machine



Feb. 24, 1942. s. L. GOOKIN 2,274,140

EYELETING MACHINE Filed April 2, 194]. 3 Sheets-Sheet Patented Feb. 24,1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,274,140 v EYELETING MACHINE SylvesterL. Gookin, Quincy, Mass, assigno'r to United Shoe Machinery Corporation,Flemington,'N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application April 2, 1941,Serial No. 386,482

4 Claims.

This invention relatesgto eyelet-inserting machines and is concernedchiefly with a motion for operating both an eyelet-inserting tool and araceway by which eyelets are presented to the spindle of the insertingtool.

One of the requirements in all types of eyeletinserting machines inwhich the eyeletsare supplied automatically to an eyelet-inserting toolby a raceway is a raceway-operating mechanism that will postpone placingthe delivery end of the raceway in the path of that tool until thelatter has been retracted far enough to avoid interference. I

To satisfy the. timing requirements of the elements the more costlyeyeleting machines are provided with operating cams, levers and linksthat have no duty other thanto reciprocate the raceways.- n the otherhand, some less costly machines have been developed to utilize thereciprocatory motions of the eyelet-inserting tool to operate theraceway, but those machines require supplemental means to postpone thestrokes of the raceway with respect to the strokes of theeyelet-inserting tool, because if the strokes of those two elements weresynchronized the tool would be unable to pick an eyelet from the racewayat one stage of a cycle and to avoid interference with the raceway at alater stage.

With these conditions in View, an object of the present invention is toprovide an improved and simplified eyelet-inserting machine" in whichthe mechanism for reciprocating the eyelet-inserting tool will alsoreciprocate a raceway with the necessary lag in timing but without anysupplemental means to produce such a, lag.

The improved operating mechanism includes a crank and a pitman by whichthe eyelet-inserting tool is reciprocated with a simple rectilinearmotion. It also includes. a link by which motion is communicated fromthe pitman to the raceway, and herein lies the solution of the timingproblem.

A pitman receives twokinds of motion from a crank, viz., amotion oftranslation and angular motion about a'wrist-pin but onlythe first of'these is utilized to operate the eyelet-inserting tool. Moreover, theangular motion has its greatest amplitude when the motion-of translationhas The invention utilizes both kinds of motion of the pitman to operatethe race- .its least amplitude.

way, and the partsthat cooperate for this purpose are so related as toutilize the angular movements of the pitman to continue thestrokes ofthe raceway beyond the p ints atwhich thereversals of direction occur inthe movements of translation. Thus, the angular motions throw thestrokes of the raceway out of synchronism with the strokes of theeyelet-inserting tool by producing a lag in the movement of the raceway.This lag enables the spindle to pick an eyelet from the raceway at onestage and enables the raceway to avoid interference with the insertingtool ata later stage.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. llis a front elevation of an eyelet-inserting machine vembodyingthe present invention, the partsbeing represented in their initialpositions; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of some of the elements appearingin Fig. l, but in Fig. '2 the operating shaft has been turned about 25from its initial position and the eyelet-inserting tool is about toenter an eyelet in the raceway;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation partly in section of the parts included inFig. 2, but in Fig. 3 the operating shaft has turned about 35 from itsinitial position and the spindle of theeyelet-insertshaft of the machineis operated; and

Fig.7 is a, "sectional view of the starting-andstopping mechanism, thesection being indicated byline VIE-,V'II in Fig. 6, and the direction ofthe view being from the rear toward the front of the machine. I

. Referring to Figs. 1,2, and 3, the eyelet-insert-- ing tool comprisesa pressure-applying member In and a spindle H extending through andprojecting from a central bore in the member [0.

'The member ID is affixed to a plunger I 2 by a set-screw I3, theplunger having a socket to receive the shank of the member 10 andvto Yenclose a compression spring 14 and a follower by which the spindle H isnormally'projected. A head [5 formed on theupper end of the spindle IIis initially seated against the upper end of the member ID by the springI4.

A stationary tool l&.located inalignment with the tool In is secured ina horn I! of the frame I8 and is provided with an upsetting shoulder I9against which the eyelets are driven by the tool [0. A central pilot 2!]projecting upwardly from the shoulder I9 is adapted first to locate apreviously formed eyelet-receiving hole in a workpiece in the desiredposition, thereafter to guide the barrel of an ingoing eyelet to theupsetting shoulder 19, and finally to enter the bore in the tool In. Thehorn I1 is provided with means 2| by which the tool 16 may be supportedand adjusted to locate the shoulder H! at the desired level.

The plunger I2 is arranged to slide up and down in a bearing 22 affordedby an overhanging portion of the frame 18. The frame also provideshorizontal bearings for an operating shaft 25. A crank 26 formed on, oraffixed to, the forward end of the shaft is located above the plunger I2and is operatively connected with the latter by a pitman 21 and awrist-pin 28. The upper end of the plunger i2 is formed to providetwoconfronting cheeks between which the lower portion ofthe pitman islocated and through which the wrist-pin 28 extends. The pitman has alaterally extending arm 29 the purpose of which is to carry a pivot pin30 for communicating motion to the raceway 24 hereinafter described. Thearm 29 is formed to provide cooperative portions adapted to be drawntoward each other by a screw 3| to clamp the pin 30.

The raceway is mounted on a supporting pivot 32 locate-d above the shaft25 and secured in the upper portion of the frame I8. A hopper 33 carriedby the raceway may contain a brush or other suitable device for feedingeyelets into the channel 45 of the raceway and such feeding device maybe affixed to the upper end of a shaft 34. A pulley 35 secured to theshaft is engaged by a driving belt 36 to operate the eyelet-feedingdevice. The delivery end 38 of the raceway (see Figs. 4 and is providedwith a notch 39 to enable the spindle I l to be thrust through aneyelet. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the eyelet 40 at the delivery end ofthe raceway is retained therein by aspring-biased detent comprising amember 4|, a pin 42 affixed thereto and a small compression spring 43.The member 4| is connected to the raceway by a pivot stud 44 about whichit may oscillate when the pin 42 is deflected by an eyelet impaled onthe spindle II.

.The raceway is so formed as to deliver the eyelets flanged end up asshown in Figs. 3 and 4.

A link 50 is formed and arranged to reciprocate the raceway without lostmotion. One end of the link is arranged on the pivot pin 30 and theother end is arranged on a pivot pin 5| ,carried by the raceway andsecured thereto by cooperative clamping portions through which aclamping screw 52 extends. These simple pivotal connections of the linkwith the raceway on the one hand and the pitman on the other handmaintain a constant distance between the pins 30 and 5l and do away withlost motion, impacts and noise. Since the raceway is located at theleft-hand side of the plunger l2 counterclockwise rotation of the shaft25 is required to (produce the correct timing of the raceway with regardto the strokes of the plunger [2. Starting-and-stopping mechanismhereinafter described is organized to arrest the shaft 25 when the crank26 is at top center, as shown in Fig. 1,

and to permit only one revolution ofthe shaft for each run of themachine.

The timing of the to-and-fro motions of the "and 3. In Fig. l the'crank26 stands at what may be termed the Zero position; in Fig. 2 it has beenturned about 25 from the zero position, while in Fig. 3 it has beenturned about 35 from the zero position. Referring again to Fig. l theinserting tool In stands at the upper limit of its range of travel butthe delivery end of the raceway is outside the path of the tool althoughclose to that path. Now, when the crank 26 is turned to the positionrepresented in Fig. 2 its movement will complete the interrupted travelof the delivery end of the raceway from left to right and thereby placethe eyelet 40 in register with the spindle ll. At the same time, thecrank will depress the plunger l2 very little but far enough to placethe tipof the spindle at the same level as the upper end of the eyelet46. Although this movement of the crank produces a slight downwardmovement of translation of the pitman 21 it also produces a relativelygreat component of angular movement about the wrist-pin .28. At thisstage of a cycle the amplitude of angular movement is greatest and themovement of translation is least and in consequence of this disparitythe pivot pin 30 moves upwardly despite the downward movement of thewrist-pin 28. The result is that the delivery end of the racewaycompletes its travel to the right about 25 after the tool Ill begins itsdown-stroke.

As the shaft 25 continues to rotate from the position represented inFig. 2 to that represented in Fig. 3 the movement of translation of thepitman 27 accelerates while the angular movement about the wrist-pin 28de'celerates, with the result that the tip of the spindle II is thrustthrough the eyelet 40 at a stage when the movement of the raceway isalmost negligible. Nevertheless, while the crank is movin from theposition shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3 the angular movement ofthe pitman about the wrist-pin 28 is not quite sufficient to counteractthe movement of translation, and the result of this disparity is thatthe pivot pin 30 moves downwardly but with less amplitude of downwardcomponent than the wrist-pin 28. Consequently, while the tip of thespindle H is traveling through the eyelet 40 with increasing speed thedelivery end of the raceway is retracted far enough to carry theretaining pin 42 past the barrel of the eyelet and to remove aboutone-half of the diameter of the eyelet from the raceway. (See Fig. 3.)As the shaft 25 continues to rotate beyond the position represented .inFig. 3, the raceway moves to the left with increasing speed, therebyclearing the path of the tool Ill. The raceway remains out of the pathof the tool Hlthrough the remainder of that cycle of the shaft 25,although it is brought back to the position shown in Fig. 1 after thetool has risen far enough to clear it.

The starting-and-stopping mechanism includes a friction clutch thedriving member of aflixed tothe shaft 25. .A flange formed on one end ofthe sleeve. and a collar affixed to its other end prevent axial movementof the pulley. 'This pulley also has ashoulder arranged to engage theother side of the belt opposite the annular surface 55 of the drivenmember. The driven member of the clutch also includes a hub 60 in whichthree sockets are bored for the reception of compression springs 6|. theright-hand ends of these springs are seated on a shoulder of the hubwhile the left-hand ends are seated on a cam 62 aflixed to the shaft 25.The effect of the springs is to force the annular surface 55 of thedriven member against the belt 53 to establish a driving engagement.

The belt is driven continuously and the idle pulley 58 rotatescontinuously in conformity therewith while serving to maintain a segmentof the belt in concentric relation to the annular surface 55. Automaticretraction of the disk 54 from the belt is elTected by an arcuate flange63 formed on the hub 60 and provided with a wedging surface 64 arrangedto cooperate with a starting-and-stopping rod 65. The trailing end ofthe flange E3 is provided with a stop shoulder 66 arranged to abut therod 65 to arrest the rotation of the shaft when the crank 26 is at topcenter, as shown in Fig. 1, but while the wedging face 64 of the flangeis traversing the rod 65 it disengages the annular surface 55 from thebelt.

The rod 65 is arranged ,to slide vertically in bearings bored in theframe l8 and its upper end is normally maintained in the path of theflange 63 by a compression spring 61. The lower end of this spring isseated on a portion of the frame [8 and the upper end abuts a collar 68afiixed to the rod. Another collar 69 is affixed to this rod to limitits upward movement by engagement with a portion of the frame [8.

The means for depressing the rod 65 out of engagement with the flange 63comprises an operating rod 10 also arranged to slide up and down inbearings bored in the frame l8. H represents a treadle rod forming anoperating connection between the rod 10 and a treadle (not shown). Therod 10 is normally raised by a compression spring 12 and its upwardmovement is limited by a collar 13 affixed thereto and arranged to abuta portion of the frame l8. A bracket 15 afiixed to the rod 10 carries anarm 16, the lower end of whichis connected thereto by a pivot pin 11 andthe upper end of which is arranged to cooperate with the cam 62. A lug18 formed on the arm 16 initially overlaps the collar 68 on the rod 65and is normally maintained in that relation by a leaf-spring 19 aflixedto the bracket 15.

When the operating rod'lfl is depressed by the treadle its downwardmovement is communicated to the starting-and-stopping rod 65 by the lug18 and the collar 68. The upper end of the rod 65 is thus disengagedfrom the flange 63, whereupon the springs 6! shift the driven member ofthe clutch into engagement with the belt 53. During the first 180rotation of the shaft 25 the cam 62 actuates the arm 16 to disengage thelug 18 from the collar 68 and in consequence thereof the spring 61returns the upper end of the rod 65 into the path of rotation-of thewedging element 63, the rod 65 being no longer under control of the rod10. During the remainder of this cycle of revolution the wedging element63 traverses the rod 65 thereby disengaging the driven disk 54 from thebelt 53 and finally bringing the stop shoulder 66 into engagement withthe rod 65. The operator need not release the treadle until he desiresto do so, but when the treadle is released the compression spring 12will raise the As shown in Fig. 6,

arm far enough to carry the lug 18 above the upperend of the collar 68,whereupon the lug will be returned to its overlapping position by theleaf-spring l9 and the starting-and-stopping mechanism will thus berestored to its initial condition in readiness for a repetition of thecycle.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An eyeleting machine comprising a plunger, an eyelet-inserting toolcarried thereby, said tool having a spindle to impale an eyelet, aneyeletraceway the delivery end of which is movable to and from the pathof said tool, a crank arranged to reciprocate said plunger, a pitman bywhich said crank and said plunger are connected, and means carried bysaid pitman for moving said raceway to and fro in cooperative relationtosaid spindle without 10st motion, said means being arranged to utilizethe angular movement of said pitman to move the delivery end of theraceway into the path of said tool when said crank is adjacent to itsdead-center position at which said plunger is fully retracted.

2. An eyeleting machine comprising a plunger, an eyelet-inserting toolcarried thereby, said tool having a spindle to impale an eyelet, aneyelet-raceway the delivery end of which is movable to and from the pathof said tool, a crank arranged to reciprocate said plunger, a pitman bywhich said crank and said plunger are connected, two pivots aflixedrespectively to said raceway and said pitman, and a link connecting saidpivots and maintaining a constant distance between them to communicatemotion from said pitman to said raceway, said pivots being so located asto movethe delivery end of the race way into and out of the path of saidtool with strokes out of synchronism with those of said plunger.

3. An eyeleting machine comprising a plunger, an eyelet-inserting toolcarried thereby, said tool having aspindle to impale an eyelet, aneyelet-raceway the delivery end of which is movable to and from the pathof said tool, a wrist-pin carried by said plunger, a pitman mounted onsaid wrist-pin, a crank by which a portion of said pitman is carried ina circular path to reciprocate said plunger, and a link having pivotalconnections with said raceway and said pitman at points so located as tomove the delivery end of the raceway into register with said spindle andretract it from the path of said tool both while the latter is movingin, a direction to pick an eyelet from the raceway.

4. An eyelet-inserting machine comprising a plunger, an eyelet-insertingtool carried thereby, said tool having a spindle for impaling an eyelet,a raceway the delivery end of which is movable to and from the path ofsaid spindle, operating means including a crank movable in an endlesscircular path, a pitman connecting the crank with said plunger toreciprocate the latter, and a link having simple pivotal connectionswith said pitman and said raceway to reciprocate the latter, saidpivotal connections being so located as to utilize the angular motion ofsaid pitman to operate the raceway when the movements of translation ofthe pitman are of least amplitude.

SYLVESTER L. GOOKIN.

